The present invention relates to a urine collection and specimen container for use by female patients. More particularly, the present invention relates to a urine collection and specimen container having a concave rim for approximating the contour of the external genitalia of a female patient from whom a urine specimen is to be collected and a reclosable lid for that container which can be releasably secured thereto to close the container.
The patent literature includes multiple patents describing urine collection containers and/or cups ostensibly shaped so as to facilitate the collection of a urine specimen therein. Such cups need to be provided with an elongated dimension, when viewed from above, or otherwise shaped to prevent urine from contacting the patient's fingers or hand to increase sterility and decrease patient embarrassment because of the limited ability of female patients to control the direction in which urine is discharged. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,485,233 discloses a female urine sampling device including a rim forming the upper edge of the sidewalls of a cup that is said to be shaped to fit against the vaginal area of the body of a woman. U.S. Pat. No. 3,329,973 discloses a disposable "urinal" which is tear-drop shaped when viewed from above. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 3,629,873 describes a cup with an upstanding sidewall shaped at its upper end to engage the female pubic region and receive within its opening the labial portion of the genitalia.
However, the devices described in those patents are characterized by a number of disadvantages and limitations. For instance, the device described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,485,233 does not have a reclosable lid, cannot be conveniently stacked for storage. The disposable "urinal" disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,329,973 does not have a lid and is not, therefore, reclosable. Nor is that device suitable for use in the medical industry.
On information and belief, the device described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,629,873 is not likely to provide a tight fit between the lid and the cup. That patent describes a device having what appears to be threads on the cup and the lid, ostensibly for insuring a seal therebetween. However, if screw threads are used on that device, both lid and container must be round when viewed from above for the threads to be operable. As noted above, a round shape would decrease the ability of the device to conform to the shape of the external genitalia. Hence, that reference describes a bead formed in the lid which engages a groove in the cup, an arrangement which can be conveniently referred to as a snap ring. That snap ring is described in that reference as being "sufficiently secure" as to prevent spillage, but its location on the inside of the cup and the outside of the lid makes it unlikely that the necessary resiliency is present to provide for such a water-tight fit. In apparent recognition of that problem, a second embodiment of that device shown in the figures of that patent includes three such snap rings.
There is, therefore, a need for a reclosable specimen container which is anatomically designed in that it is provided with a concave rim for facilitating the collection of a urine specimen from a female patient which is inexpensive enough to manufacture as to be disposable and which provides a water-tight seal between the lid and the container. A principal object of the present invention is to provide such a specimen container.
As described below, a potential solution to the disadvantages of the devices described in these prior patents would be to provide a lid which is curved to fit against a curved, or concave, rim formed in the specimen container. However, curving the rim makes it difficult to obtain a water-tight seal between the rim and the lid, thereby making a water-tight seal less likely. To compensate for that difficulty requires tighter manufacturing tolerances between container and lid, and therefore, increased expense in making the mold necessary for forming the lid and specimen container of plastic or other suitable material. It is, therefore, another object of the present invention to provide a specimen container which solves those problems. Other objects, and the advantages of the present invention, will be made clear to those skilled in the art by the following description of a presently preferred embodiment of a urine collection and specimen container constructed in accordance with the invention.